


The Other Meaning of Life

by nimery



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: And some following events I made up, Body Worship, Canon Backstory, Canon verse, Heartachingly Romantic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oops, Post-Anime, Zodiac Leorio and Kurapika
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-14 22:01:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5760490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nimery/pseuds/nimery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurapika can't stop looking to the past.</p><p>Leorio wants him to see the present and will stop at nothing to do so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Meaning of Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CielPhantomhive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CielPhantomhive/gifts).



> Bless CielPhantomhive.

"What if I got you a dog?"

Kurapika frowned, looking away from the airship window and to where Leorio sat across from him. The eternally-suited man was looking at him, legs crossed, supporting his head with his hand.

"Why are you getting me a dog?" He asked, brow creased. Leorio shrugged which was a full body motion for the man, that lifted him and dropped him.

"Maybe it will make you feel better."

Kurapika frowned and tried to ignore the implications that statement had. He couldn't, of course.

"I feel fine, Leorio. You don't have to get me a dog." He said, frowning and turning back to the window. He saw his reflection. He looked fine. The bags that were under his eyes had wholly disappeared. He looked better than he had a few weeks ago when he'd first joined the Zodiacs in Pariston's place. 

But maybe that was Leorio's mother hen mannerisms, of which Kurapika was on the receiving end, of making sure he went to sleep- via a constant barrage of emails and sometimes actually coming to his hotel room to check on him- and making sure he got enough to eat- which wasn't actually a problem, but Leorio seemed to think it was and would pile his plate full with all kinds of food, depending on the meal. He didn't eat all the food, but Leorio thought he did.

It was probably good for him that Leorio was around, but that didn't mean he wasn't bothered by the excessive moments.

"A cat then? People do say you have cat eyes."

"Who says I have cat eyes?" Kurapika asked, making a face before he shook his head. "Look, you don't have to get me any animals. I'm fine."

"I bet if I got you something, you'd kill it just to spite me." Leorio quipped.

For a moment, Kurapika didn't know if he wanted to laugh or sigh, but that was an emotion he normally felt when he was with Leorio. The taller man had a penchant for drawing him into a state of passive aggression, unlike any other he'd ever met.

"I told that I'm fine. Take that at face value, and don't look into it."

Leorio slammed his foot down onto the ground, so that his legs were spread, and pointed accusingly at the blond. Kurapika startled a little at the sudden movement. His vision locked onto Leorio.

"Since you don't want me to look into it, I have to!"

Kurapika sighed. It seemed that reaction won out. "No, you don't."

It was incredibly irritating. Unbelievably so, but it was Leorio, and the man seemed to know Kurapika better than Kurapika knew himself.

Although, he still didn't know when to drop a subject and never mention it again.

"So why are you not fine?" Leorio asked, and Kurapika held back yet another sigh that was threatening to come out at the question.

"You're the only person here claiming that I'm not fine, Leorio." He countered, turning his body toward the window this time, supporting his chin with a balled up fist.

"Is it the eyes?"

With a held back frown, Kurapika stared dangerously at his reflection, focusing on ignoring the man across from him.  _Is he_ trying  _to get me angry?_

"Chrollo?"

A switch flipped within his head, and Kurapika turned back to Leorio, fighting his emotions and trying to calm them before his eyes turned to scarlet.

So he gathered all of his frustration, and let it out in the healthiest way he knew, towards Leorio.

"I told you that I'm fine, Leorio. Why are you so insistent on bothering me with these irritating questions?"

Luckily, the reaction was exactly what Kurapika needed to calm himself.

Unluckily, it was also the reaction that Leorio needed to continue in his insistence that Kurapika was not okay.

Kurapika knew it too. He recognized that stupid look on his face. That stupid overly-caring look. That stupid yet genuinely Leorio look.

Kurapika knew that he wouldn't hear the end of 'are you okay' from this man.

* * *

"How about a goldfish?"

Kurapika had to blink a few times before he figured out what Leorio was talking about. It was after another meeting with the Zodiacs- Cheadle had been calling a lot of those ever since the video had been found and watched. Kurapika understood it. They were planning a journey into the Dark Continent, a place unknown to man. Any details would have to be completely ironed out to ensure that everything would be safe. Well, safe with what they could predict. They had no idea what would happen when they were there. It was unexplored territory, and extremely dangerous.

All Kurapika wanted was to crawl into bed and not crawl back out for a week.

He wondered if Leorio would bring him food if he did that. He probably would. Leorio was so adamant on making him stay healthy; Kurapika would have a constant flow of food if he ever hid himself away from the world for a week.

Or more.

Kurapika shook his head and made to leave the room before Leorio's hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Leorio, I'm too tired to have this conversation with you right now. Please. Let me get some sleep." He looked up into steady dark brown eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm not going to get you a goldfish or a dog or a cat, but at least let me see you back to your room. You said it yourself, you're tired, so let's get you to sleep."

"Leorio, that is the most sensible thing you've ever said to me."

Kurapika didn't break from Leorio's grasp as the two left the meeting room. There was something comforting about Leorio's eternally warm hands- that weren't overly hot or overly cold. And maybe Melody was right about how Leorio simply being there tended to relax him.

The two men road the elevator down, and Kurapika tried to ignore the fact that, as time went on, he grew more and more tired. He knew why, though. Despite Leorio's best intentions, he still only got around four hours of sleep each night. It was the only way he could keep up with searching for the eyes that were still missing and with his new responsibilities as the Rat.

He was sure that if Leorio knew what time he woke up, the man would give him that scalding look of disapproval, which Kurapika could withstand- he'd fought against the Phantom Troupe and regained a number of his clansmen's eyes- but he still didn't like seeing it. While he liked annoying Leorio and making him angry, he didn't like the man's disappointed expression. It was like, if he could attribute it to anything, a sad puppy.

Kurapika wasn't sure if Leorio did that on purpose or not, but it was damn effective.

The elevator chimed cheerfully when they reached the bottom floor, and Kurapika rubbed at his eyes. A yawn escaped his lips unwittingly, and Leorio nudged him.

"You can fall asleep in the cab when I call one, alright?"

Kurapika blinked a few times. "Don't worry about it; I'm awake." He said, words almost drowning in a held back yawn.

Leorio shook his head, and Kurapika could see a slight smile, before he turned away. "Yes, you sound very awake."

Once outside, Leorio hailed a cab, which took longer than either of them would have liked, but they were in a big city.

And the cab was warmer and a lot more comfortable than Kurapika would have liked, and next to Leorio, he was almost lulled into sleep.

 _Almost_ , only almost. Kurapika had no interest in letting Leorio hold 'but I carried you into your hotel room because you were tired and overworked' over his head. Although he was pretty sure Leorio didn't know that he was overworked. And he didn't want Leorio to know that. If Leorio knew it, he'd have many more problems with the man than he already did.

Kurapika was jerked back into alertness when the cab stopped, though he could quickly feel his body becoming heavy once more. He moved to get out but paused for a moment, turning to Leorio.

"Thank you for the cab. I'll see you tomorrow." He yawned once more, almost as a punctuation to the statement. He moved to leave the cab before he felt that warm hand curled around his wrist.

"Actually, Kurapika. I wanted to talk to you."

Dark brown eyes held his own, and for a moment, he forgot what had just been said.  _Damn sleep._

"Sure," he said after a moment because he was far too tired to face any argument that would arise from the contrary. That slight smile was back on Leorio's face as he exited the cab.

The man was almost like a dog in the way he stayed at Kurapika's heels on the way to the room. It almost felt as though he were smuggling Leorio inside. Maybe he should have asked Leorio to stop talking about buying him animals.

The blond stepped to the side when they got to the room so the taller man could easily come in.

"Damn, my room wasn't this good." Leorio groaned upon entrance, taking a look around, dropping himself onto the couch; Kurapika had a feeling he was holding back one of those long low whistles he'd heard him make a few times. Kurapika shook his head and shrugged off the jacket of his coat.

"The Zodiacs aren't paying for mine, if that's what you're thinking." He answered nonchalantly.

Leorio nodded. "Then you're paying?"

"Mafia work pays well."

Even though he was no longer looking at the tall man as he hung his jacket on one of the supplied hangers, he could feel Leorio's eyes narrow at him as if staring at a face that had miraculously appeared on his back.

"What ever happened to that kid that said 'don't sell your soul to money, Leorio. You'll never get it back.'" Leorio's voice raised an octave, as though trying to mimic the blond's voice from two years ago.

Kurapika sat down on the bed of the hotel. "That kid also said that he'd rather hurt his own pride than ever dishonor his clan by not achieving revenge." He said, leaning forward as he undid his shoes.

"Are you just going to get undressed while I'm still here?"

Kurapika shrugged. "Only this much. I'm going to sleep as soon as you leave, and I don't want to ruin the suit."

Leorio pursed his lips, before shrugging in an almost mirror-like fashion of what Kurapika had done before.

"I've noticed, you know." Leorio began before pausing, his lips sticking out in a purse, obviously considering the words he had just said. "That sounded a lot less dramatic in my head, but yeah. Your reflexes are slower, and that means you're not getting enough sleep, so I want to know what you're up to that keeps you up so late."

Kurapika looked at him lazily before nodding. "I see. You waited until I was too tired to have a filter to get to my secrets." A slight smile hitched up his lips. "Leorio, you already know what I'm doing."

"You're looking for the eyes?" The man's eyes were wide and disbelieving. "Kurapika, we already know where the eyes are! You can't go after them alone!" Leorio stood from the couch; the blond's gaze had followed him.

"Did I ever tell you about the Kurta clan?"

Leorio looked at him again in the way that made him wonder if there was another face somewhere on his body that he couldn't see but Leorio could.

"Yeah, you've talked about why they were killed."

Kurapika looked away from Leorio. "But I never said anything about the people, did I? I suppose it's easier to explain why they were killed rather than who they were." He tapped a finger against his hand a few times, a tick that had developed in his days working with the mafia. "I look like my mother. Her face is the one I remember best, because when I look in the mirror, it's almost like she's looking back at me. My father... he had dark hair, and he was tall, like you."

"Does it haunt you, then? The fact that you look like your mother?"

"Like nothing else." The blond sighed heavily; his body fell forward with the breath until he only supported himself by his arms on his knees. "And Pairo. He was a friend of mine. My best friend. He even saved my life once. When I was younger, I almost fell down a cliff. Pairo helped me, but he hurt his legs. His eyes had always been bad, and then his legs, and I suppose I always felt responsible for it."

Kurapika turned his gaze back to Leorio. The man had sat back down on the couch and was watching Kurapika intently. The curiosity was prevalent in his eyes, as if he'd never expected to get this information from the blond and was ready to drink it all in.

"He always only helped me. When I wanted to leave the village, he messed with the test so I could." Kurapika smiled sadly. "I left that village when I was thirteen. The last thing I ever saw of any of them, my mom, my dad, Pairo, was them waving at me and telling me to be safe. Pairo... he said that when I got back, for me to tell him about everything I'd seen. A week after I left, I heard the news about the massacre and vowed revenge. I did so much research on the Phantom Troupe. So that I would know exactly what I was looking for. What type of people they were, what the tattoos looked like, how many there were. Anything I could possibly learn from the people who had known of them, mostly people who had seen them in action and somehow lived to tell about it. I was going on word of mouth really. Nobody writes about them in books.

"I've spent so many years of my life angry, that I almost forgot what it was like to not be. Meeting you and Gon was like a saving grace, in a way. You almost made me forget that I was angry, and you made me feel alive. You made me feel like I was existing in a way that my mother would be happy about." Kurapika sighed again, tapping his fingers against his hand once more. "I know that she wouldn't be happy about the way I've thrown myself into revenge. She wouldn't be particularly happy about the fact that I've killed people." He laughed humorlessly.

"I can almost hear her, you know." He said. "'Pika, more death isn't going to change anything.'" Another laugh drowned out the sob that attempted to rise out of his chest, but he could already feel the hot tears slipping silently down his cheeks.

"Kurapika, hey." The bed shifted as Leorio sat beside him. A strong arm strung itself around him, and he ignored the desire to bury himself into Leorio's comfortable warmth. "It's okay. You've spent, what, six years obsessing over revenge? It's not too late to change your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind," he declared. "I'm going to find the eyes of my clan. I'm going to find all of them and give them a proper Kurta burial, the way it's meant to be."

Leorio tugged him closer, until he could hear Leorio's heart pounding in his chest.

"I understand. Perhaps you should get to sleep. I have a feeling you're going to regret telling me all of that in the morning."

Kurapika didn't shake his head, but he wanted to. "No I won't," he said as his eyes fluttered shut. "You're a friend, Leorio. A good man. How many times have you saved me? I never acknowledged it, but thank you. For saving me constantly."

* * *

He didn't notice that something was wrong until he realized that the body heat and heart beat weren't his. Until he noticed that there was an arm around him and that he'd gone to sleep in his dress clothes, and he swore if they were wrinkled he was going to kick Leorio's-

"You're awake."

"If these are wrinkled, I'm going to kick your ass." He grumbled into the man's chest before he sat up and examined the shirt with sleep-heavy eyes. It looked alright. It just severely needed to be washed. It smelled too much like Leorio.

Not that it was a bad thing.

Just an uncomfortable to think about thing considering their heart-to-heart last night.

_Good lord, that actually happened. That wasn't a dream. That happened._

_Shit._

"Last night never happened." He said sternly, without turning back to Leorio, and instead toward his suitcase to comb through to find clothes for the day.

They didn't have any Zodiac meeting planned- that he knew of- so he could spend the day how he wanted. He did need to call Nostrade, but maybe that could wait...

"Last night happened vividly, I remember every detail. I also remember that you told me I should know those things because I'm your friend."

Kurapika let out a sigh. "Alright, fine. Know it. Just don't talk to me about it."

He was turned, Leorio's hands on his shoulders spinning him around so he faced Leorio. Kurapika didn't remember exactly when he had stood and walked up behind him. He must have been so lost in his thoughts at the moment that he didn't hear the bed springs creak.

"I want to know how you feel; you know that, right?" Leorio had that gentle look again, where his face was only concerned, and Kurapika was wondering if he'd planned on them being this close, with the taller leaned over so they were face to face.

"You know how I feel."

"Do I?"

"I'm angry."

Leorio laughed softly, his body shaking slightly, before he shook his head, hands on Kurapika's shoulders gripping tightly. If sleep didn't crinkle his clothes, Kurapika wasn't really worried about Leorio's frustration doing it.

"You're a lot of things, Kurapika, but are you really still mad?" Leorio's voice was barely over a whisper, and Kurapika found himself staring up to the dark haired man and holding back his immediate answer of 'of course.'

Was he? It was a stupid question, but he had to think about it, and because of that, he began doubting if he actually was, or if he only wanted himself to be. It was easier to justify himself through revenge. Through the desire to give his clansmen what they deserved. It was easier, when he'd think about who he had stepped on to get to the point where obtaining eyes was easy and possible with his own money. It was easier to remain unfeeling and uncaring about who died in the process.

"Yes." He answered, after a long while. Because it was easier. It was easier to be angry than to admit that nothing he could do could bring back his family or his friends.

"Kurapika..."

"Would you rather have me say that I don't care? That I couldn't give a damn about anyone else and that my only goal is to reclaim the eyes and kill the Troupe? I really don't care if people get hurt."

Leorio's eyes, normally so gentle and caring and kind, hardened.

"You're lying to me, Kurapika. You're not like this."

"How do you know what I'm like?"

"I know you!"

"Prove it!"

Leorio grabbed his face and pulled him in, mouths opening into something that was less of a kiss and more of a heated crashing of teeth and tongues. Kurapika immediately closed his eyes.

He'd never kissed anyone before, but he was pretty sure this didn't count, anyway. He'd seen kisses. They were never like this. They were always simple presses of lips, or maybe with slight movement of the jaw, but never like this. His mind froze, however, when he felt Leorio's teeth grazing on his bottom lip and catching it.

Kurapika wasn't a stranger to instinct. He observed it from the animals in the forest when he was young. He had experienced it in the various fights he'd been in, during the Hunters Exam and against Uvogin. He'd seen people who were only driven by their instinct, and he'd seen people who had completely rejected it.

He knew the drive of instinct well. He recognized the way his hands moved before he knew why, the way they gripped for purchase on broad shoulders. He knew why his body responded while his mind could only take a step back and analyze and think, but even that seemed to be failing him as questions and questions filled him to the brim.

Why was this so good? Leorio was basically attacking his mouth with his his own mouth, but he didn't want to stop him. Why did he want to feel Leorio's hands on places other than his back? Why did it feel like the comfortable air around them that he had gotten so used to had suddenly snapped into something... different? A weird different. An 'I don't know if this is a good different, even though it feels like a good different now' different.

Leorio pulled him closer, so they're bodies touched, and the kiss became something that could actually be called a kiss. Kurapika suspected that Leorio was waiting to see if he'd be pushed away by the blond for the sudden action. Though Kurapika also thought that this was nicer. That lips and tongues were preferable to teeth.

Leorio's hands were on his waist, those long fingers curled around him. He knew they were awkward and expressive and dexterous. Those awkward yet skillful hands pulled him even closer until only fabric separated the two of them.

He could feel as the hands moved, and his mind seemed focused on that, not on the way Leorio's tongue skimmed so gracefully over his own or the sensitive palette of his mouth. The hands mapped his back, feeling every bit of skin from his shoulders to lower back before they slid onto his hips.

Kurapika's own arms tightened, leveraging Leorio's neck so he came closer as Kurapika was drawn in.

The man responded by lifting Kurapika from the floor, and for a moment, the blond panicked, pulling away slightly, with his fingers digging into Leorio's shoulders.

They stood frozen for a moment.

"Sorry, I can-" Leorio had begun to put him down before Kurapika lifted up his legs and wrapped them around Leorio's waist.

"No, you just surprised me." He said quickly. "Now if you're done apologizing..." His eyes flashed down to Leorio's lips, hoping the man would understand his intention.

Luckily, Leorio understood it almost rapidly and kissed Kurapika again.

Kurapika couldn't help but let his mind wander as the man kissed him and he returned the kiss with the same gentle care given to him. He couldn't help but wonder when it had become  _luckily_ that Leorio would start kissing him. He had to wonder if it was when that comfortable air snapped, and what the air used to be.

He would have called them friends. He would have called them friends ever since they ended the fight that had begun their relationship. He would have called them friends even when they were apart.

He wondered if something had changed gradually within the two years they knew each other. He wondered if it had happened while they were apart. He wondered if it was instantaneous when they saw each other as Zodiacs. If it had only changed the moment they first kissed.

He wanted to ask Leorio what he thought. How he felt.

If his mind was as full and as empty as Kurapika's was.

Full, yet full of only one thing.

And it didn't help that Leorio's hands were everywhere. He couldn't keep track of where those hands had touched, only that now, one rested on his upper thigh and the other had slipped into his hair and held tightly onto the locks of blond hair that hung down to his shoulders while its palm warmed the back of his neck and sent a sharp shiver crawling down his skin.

He could feel the hand on his thigh crawling, slipping upward.

Apparently Leorio had no plans to remove either hand, the one on his neck, or the one that was currently on his ass, which Kurapika realized pretty quickly, as both hands seemed to knead the skin beneath them and expertly steal Kurapika's breath from his very lungs with each ministration.

When he broke away to recapture that stolen breath, he felt lips pressed against his throat. He knew this too. He now understood, feeling Leorio's lips and teeth grazing his neck as the man followed his skin to the intersection of his neck and shoulders.

The hand on the back of his neck moved, and he immediately knew where it was headed. He removed one hand from Leorio's shoulders and, just like the hand that moved, began undoing the buttons on his shirt.

As the frail white fabric glided to the floor, Leorio's movements became slower and more deliberate. His lips skimmed the pale flesh of Kurapika's shoulders, kissing softly, gently as he traced over the surprisingly strong shoulders of the blond.

Leorio turned, and Kurapika watched as he lowered the blond onto the bed. The man kneeled and returned to kissing his chest, hands on Kurapika's hips, fingers on the skin as lips moved across the blond's distinctive collarbone and down his chest.

Every kiss had a meaning; Kurapika could see that much by the way each pressed gently, yet firmly, and almost with reverence. He just didn't know what they were. He doubted that it was reverence. The thought was most likely an arrogant lie concocted by his mind.

But each one, he saw it in Leorio's expression and felt it in the changing pressure of lips on skin, had its own different meaning. Perhaps it was everything. Everything that was never said; everything that would be said; everything that had been said. Simply everything. Everything Leorio had ever thought, every look when Kurapika wasn't looking. Every whispered word in the darkness of night when he recalled the blond. Every shouted word when he saw him.

Perhaps each kiss was simply everything, but Kurapika had a feeling that he would never know what they meant, unless, somehow, they found themselves in this situation again and Leorio whispered every single meaning under his breath after each kiss.

Kurapika almost wanted that day to be soon.

And the kisses trailed. Down his chest, brushing past a nipple, causing a catch of breath. They traveled past his stomach before Leorio moved back up, and those lips fell on his temples, his cheeks, his nose, his eyes, to be finally caught once more by his own lips.

Kurapika almost wished that the world would stop being so quiet, so that it may quiet the shouting within his own head.

He was thinking too much, he knew, but he couldn't stop himself either. He couldn't stop thinking about that everything.

Leorio broke the kiss and pushed Kurapika down, onto the bed while climbing over him, placing a kiss on his neck and trailing those kisses down the other side of his body.

Kurapika actually heard it this time. An abandoned mutter after a kiss to his shoulder.

"Angel."

His eyes followed Leorio as he continued his trail, and he found his mind racing.

Why would Leorio say that? Was he talking about Kurapika or imagining someone else? Did he actually mean it?

Did he know how much that simple word affected him?

His whole life, he'd been called things. Because of his eyes, those villagers had called him a demon. The Phantom Troupe had elected to call him 'the chain bastard,' though he knew he'd earned that title. It felt different. Odd.

Him, whose eyes could turn as red as blood and whose hands had spilt it. Him, who had, for six years, lived his life hell bent on revenge. Him, who had created his Nen so that it could be used to kill those who had wronged him. So that evil could be chained down to hell.

Leorio had called him an angel. Had unwittingly imprinted the word into his skin.

The man retreated, and their eyes met once more. Leorio's were filled with a lust that was different than the kind they held when he looked at women. Kurapika wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. He didn't know if it was good or bad, or whatever it meant.

When Leorio leaned forward once more, Kurapika pulled him down, wrapping his legs up and around Leorio once more to hold and keep him close.

He found that it didn't matter to him anymore. He found that he didn't care, but not in a bad way. He was absorbed by the fact that Leorio wanted him. The thought confused him. His head and emotion were at odds, but he easily chose which one he would listen to.

He'd give in to his instincts.

Their movements and tongues were slow and almost felt choreographed, as if every moment, every interaction, every word they'd ever shared had led up to this moment.

Somebody's hips started to move. Somebody's hand started to undress. Leorio was soon shirtless above him, and Kurapika was already panting with need from the way they'd slid against each other, though layers of fabric still laid in their way.

Leorio reached down, undoing both of their bottoms and letting them fall to the floor with their shirts.

Kurapika could almost see everything, and he knew Leorio could too, watched Leorio's eyes as they skimmed down his body, watched as they drank in his flesh.

Fingers, ones he recognized as his own, slipped under the band of his boxers and slid them down his legs. Those same fingers pulled down Leorio's as well, and the man reached out and hitched Kurapika's leg up beside him.

As he captured Kurapika's lips again, his hand traveled the length of his leg. Kurapika turned it, so it hugged Leorio's back, and pushed him down so his body covered Kurapika's.

The man's eyes glistened with understanding towards the silent demand that had been given to him. He hitched up Kurapika's other leg, before reaching out and beyond.

Kurapika wasn't quite sure where he had reached, but he soon saw Leorio's hand return, looking wettened.

After a moment, a long, slicked finger entered him, slowly, waiting for him to relax some before burying deeply. The finger hooked and moved within him until a sudden wave of ecstasy rushed through him, his spine arching instinctively, gasping air into his lungs. He felt Leorio let out a soft laugh, press a kiss to his throat before another finger slipped into him.

He could feel himself, his body temperature rising, his arms reaching out and finding Leorio's back, his hair, those places of comfort as those fingers slipped out of him and heat pressed against him.

"I love you," Leorio whispered into his ear, lips brushing almost carelessly against the shell of his ear. "My angel." And Kurapika was entered; a soft cry was torn from his throat before he could prevent it, and Leorio immediately froze.

"I'm fine," Kurapika managed, eyes rising to meet Leorio's. "Keep going."

Leorio studied him for a moment, looking over his expression before carefully pressing his entire length into Kurapika.

The blond couldn't hold back the sounds that rose up from his chest. Every gasp and moan that he tried to muffle surprised him, startled him. But Leorio seemed to love his little noises, so he let them loose. Every moan collided seamlessly with Leorio's muffled grunts at every thrust and every twist of the hand, Leorio's hand, at his own length.

When Leorio moved his hips, so did Kurapika. When the taller man leaned forward, Kurapika pulled him down completely, capturing his lips and swallowing all of his sounds.

Every thrust made Kurapika's head emptier and emptier and emptier until he no longer felt like he understood, or wanted to understand, the loud thoughts that rang inside his head.

The first of them were celebrating, only focusing on the confession from moments before. The next were skeptical, thinking the confession was a hoax. The next would counter that, asking why Leorio would lie when he already had Kurapika naked and willing. The next would demand focus on the moment. But still, he'd find himself wondering about the man above him.

When Kurapika came with a final tug on his cock, he'd blame instinct as his cry was buried into Leorio's shoulder. He wanted this to last longer; he wanted himself to last longer. His heart pounded in his chest as he felt his body sag into the bed. Leorio's eyes fell on him, and he leaned down, thrusting sharply as he did so, producing a quiet gasp from the blond.

Lips met lips. Kurapika quickly opened his mouth, and Leorio did too, until it was tongues and teeth and that 'barely a kiss' that Kurapika actually kind of enjoyed.

Leorio thrusted sharply once more, and Kurapika could feel himself move upwards a little as the bed creaked loudly. Kurapika smiled into the barely-kiss, but cried out when Leorio bit his lip as he was filled.

"That didn't last long enough," Leorio muttered as he let himself down beside Kurapika. The blond looked over at him, taking in his features. 

"Did you mean it?" He asked, holding back a yawn. Leorio returned his gaze curiously before turning onto his side and propping himself up.

"I like to think I apply myself fully when I fuck someone, so yes."

Kurapika knew that for a split second his eyes flashed red, before he was able to calm himself back down. For a moment, he was angry with himself for letting his emotions slip so carelessly. He almost forgot that he was also angry with Leorio, before the man spoke up.

"Wait," he said. "That's not what you meant was it." The man turned again, holding himself over Kurapika with both hands spread on the mattress. The blond didn't like this position, with Leorio towering over him and filling his vision. He felt dominated. He didn't like this.

"No, you don't get to answer anymore. I'm just 'someone' you happened to sleep with." Kurapika turned to his side, effectively ignoring the man above him.

"That's not what I meant, I was kidding." Leorio said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, that was bad." He lowered his eyes, not exactly focusing on Kurapika, for a moment before his eyes widened and hurried back to Kurapika's face.

"You were asking if I meant it when I said that I loved you, weren't you."

"I can't figure it out. Do you say it to all of the someones you fuck?"

Leorio sighed. "No, I say it to all of the stubborn, blond haired, nineteen year old Kurtas named Kurapika."

Kurapika turned his gaze back to Leorio. "That's rather specific."

"But I did mean it. I'm sorry if it freaks you out, but I meant it, okay?"

Kurapika nodded. "Okay. Fine."

"Really? We're okay?"

"Yes."

* * *

"What the hell?"

The creature was, luckily, in a cage, rubbing at its face with its claws as it looked at Kurapika down an ugly snout while Leorio beamed just beyond. The man had his hands on his hips as he was looking at the cage with unbridled glee.

"It's a rat." He answered plainly, and Kurapika frowned.

"I know that, but why did you bring it to the meeting?"

Really, he was only glad that none of the others had arrived yet. Cheadle had been in early for a moment, before she left again to fetch something that would be important for the whole 'planning a trip into the dark continent' situation. He didn't know what she would do if she saw it. He didn't really want to know either.

Three weeks had passed already since the... exchange, and Leorio had continued to do the little things that always made Kurapika want to punch him, like asking over and over if he was okay.

Maybe he'd expected something to change, or at least that. The only thing that was different was that they kissed more and wore clothes less.

Kurapika just thought that there would be something else... He'd thought that that air, the one that had snapped so easily would be gone, but it was back tenfold. Almost smothering. Leorio didn't seem to be feeling it though, but Kurapika certainly did.

Maybe Leorio noticed the something different. But then again, maybe he didn't.

"I bought you a rat."

It had seriously been _three weeks_ and the man still remembered, damn him. Leorio had _still_ remembered. He hated this man. So much. So much it was almost incomprehensible.

"I hate you," he said plainly, staring at the rat for a moment more before turning his eyes back to Leorio.

"That happens to be the complete opposite of what I had you screaming out last night." The man said smugly, and Kurapika had to mentally restrain himself from throwing first the cage at him, and then the rat. He wondered how that would look. Satisfying was the only word he could use to describe it.

"Didn't you decide that if you bought me a pet I'd kill it just to spite you?" He said instead, looking up blankly at the man, but Leorio was still smiling.

"You won't kill it."

"Why won't I?" He stood, a slight smile growing on his face.

"Because you're not like that." Leorio seemed to be getting it too, as he leaned against the table, his face shifting from beaming to the same sort of half-smirk Kurapika wore.

"You don't know that." Kurapika pushed himself up so he was seated on the table, pushing the rat's cage to the side as Leorio walked toward him.

"I'm sure I do. Because I know you, Kurapika." He had both hands on Kurapika's knees as he leaned in, his nose almost touching Kurapika's.

"Do you now? Come on then. Prove it." Grey eyes sparkled at the last two words before Leorio caught his lips. It was soft and guiding, slowly blending into an open kiss with Leorio's tongue softly dancing on the roof of his mouth.

Kurapika couldn't help but smile at the feeling before he asserted his own dominance, pulling Leorio in by his tie and pulling away from his mouth. He pressed his lips to Leorio's neck, then up to his jaw, and letting his teeth graze their slightly before starting to suck.

Leorio let out a slight gasping noise. Kurapika hadn't heard it before and decided that he liked it a lot and wanted to hear it again, preferably in succession.

Kurapika pulled back from his neck. "Do you just want to skip the meeting? They don't need us to be here." He offered, looking up at Leorio. The taller man, laughed softly.

"Weren't you all about propriety once upon a time?" Leorio muttered. Kurapika leaned back, raising an eyebrow as he looked at him.

"Then we'll just stay here. That's fine." He slipped away from Leorio and sat back in his seat, putting the rat in front of him. He looked at the creature again, and it looked at him, almost curiously. He waved a finger in front of it, and it eyed it carefully.

He was going to name this rat Leorio Jr. Just because he could.

"Forget I said anything and let's get out of here like a couple of crazy teenagers."

Kurapika glanced up from Leorio Jr to Leorio before looking back at the rat. It looked between the two of them.

"Nah. I'm not feeling it." He said plainly, and waved his finger in front of the rat some more.

For a moment, Leorio said nothing, and Kurapika almost felt like laughing before he heard the tapping of shoes on linoleum, and his chair was aggressively turned so he faced Leorio.

"Please fix my chair, Leorio. The meeting is about to start."

Leorio stared at him for a moment, looking over his body before a slight smile surfaced, and he reached forward, both hands falling on Kurapika's waist.

"Don't." The blond said sternly as he crossed his arms and legs. The taller male huffed out a laugh before he pulled Kurapika from his chair and slung him over his shoulder.

"Leorio!"

"Just leave the rat to sit in at the meeting for you. They won't even realize you're gone."

Kurapika kicked him, and he knew it hurt when Leorio grunted. He didn't know what he hit, if he had to guess he'd say his stomach or side, but it had done the trick, and Leorio had put him down.

Once steadily on the ground, he took in Leorio's distressed expression and kissed the man, pulling on his tie and colliding their lips.

Leorio moved into the kiss immediately, wrapping his arms around Kurapika but letting the blond lead as he was pulled down into an all-consuming kiss.

Both knew that they could definitely get used to this. Both wondered why they hadn't gotten to this point earlier.

Kurapika knew, of course, that it was most likely because he never answered that damned phone or any of those damned emails. He knew it was because he wanted to act alone, which he also knew was a stupid thought to have. He had to know that he would need people, or just Leorio, at some point or another. He couldn't count on hired muscle when he was wallowing in his misery.

He used to be annoyed at Leorio, but he wasn't annoyed anymore. He was grateful he had the man again.

He didn't really want to find out what it would be like to lose him.

**Author's Note:**

> Clichéd fic is cliché.


End file.
